September 25, 2013

The September/October edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, ways to help and become involved.Summaries of articles:1. Parole News: August releases; News about former parole board member and chair Robert Dennison’s advocacy for certain parole applicants.2. NYS Parole Reform Campaign reports on the growing energy around the SAFE Parole Act; unveils new and easy Weekly Action readers can join.3. Ending Parole Abuse - Reuniting Families; a Campaign to Overhaul New York’s Parole System encourages public participation and invites us to their gala Kick-off event on November 8.4. We can do it! Inspiration from FAMM’s experience.

7. Religion, Abolition, Mass Incarceration seminar on October 4-5 includes speakers from RAPP.8. Bookends, an evening of performances inspired by incarcerated parents and grandparents, to be presented in Albany by Prison Legal Services.9. Michelle Alexander is expanding her focus to include a radical restructuring of society.10. Education from the Inside Out is beginning a new season of working to remove the barriers that keep our youth and people with criminal records uneducated.11. Part 3 in Baba Eng’s address to Building Bridges readers in which he looks at who's responsible and who is going to do something about our failed criminal justice system.12. Forty-two years after the Attica rebellion Prisoners Are People Too takes a look at what has changed (or not) over the four decades since then.13. Corey Parks: The race for quality has no finish line. There is always room for more improvement.

14. Small Business Legal Academy offers free consulting day.15. Special screening of Herman’s House at CSS. Petition to grant him compassionate release.

August 25, 2013

The August/September edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, ways to help and become involved.1. Parole releases are averaging close to 26% for both initials and reappearances; Building Bridges gives a list of current parole commissioners and their biographies.

"In response to the amendment of Executive Law § 259-c(4) the Parole Board took no action to establish written procedures, instead apparently relying upon the "Evans' Memo" to suffice. Upon inspection and investigation of this memo a simple truth emerges. The memo does not contain the procedures required to satisfy the 2011 amendment and it has not been promulgated by proper filing with the Department of State, the Secretary of State, or publication in the state register. Therefore any action taken by the Parole Board to deny parole to any person coming before it would be made in violation of Executive Law § 259-c(4) because it would have been made without first establishing or following proper procedures, thus inviting judicial annulment."

2. Only four Criminal Justice bills that the Prison Action Network were following made it into law. None of them targets a subset of the prison population, and two increase benefits to victims.3. The campaign to overhaul NY’s failed parole system is moving forward with a meeting on September 7 to begin planning the year’s events.4. NYS Prisoner Justice Network takes a cautious look at the Stop and Frisk judicial decision and A.G. Holder’s speech calling for federal prison reforms.5. DOCCS is denying more and more women entry to the Bedford Hills' prison nursery, particularly women who have been convicted of violent crimes and women who have had child welfare involvement with other children.6. Merle Cooper petition signatures reach 845. There are six days left to at least be counted among those who think DOCCS should maintain programs that have proven track records.7. College degree program at Albion C.F. to start this summer, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Sunshine Lady.8. Baba Eng follows the thread from Black Codes > criminal justice system > criminal codes > Emancipation Proclamation > 13th amendment with its exception > vagrancy (and other) laws to catch up Freed Blacks.9. Black August: In remembrance of Jonathan Jackson, brother of George Jackson, Mujahid Farid, the featured speaker at this month’s Prisoners Are People Too meeting, will consider how the fate of Jonathan ties into issues of juvenile justice.10. Corey Parks wants to convince you of your ability to become a leader after you come home.11. ReEntry Roundtable Wed. Sept 18, 1-3pm, "Broken On All Sides" documentary.

July 25, 2013

Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including updates about the NYS Parole Reform Campaign, ways to help and become involved.

2. Parole Reform Campaign - The Prison Ministry of the Riverside Church in New York City will launch their year-long campaign to overhaul New York's failed parole policies and practices with a weekend of inspiring performances, workshops, and worship. SAVE THE DATE: Nov 8-10. [To participate, please contact Sheila Rule, or call her at 877-267-2303.]

3. The status of the SAFE Parole Act after two Legislative Sessions.

4. Legislative Report on the status of the six bills, among those the Prison Action Network has been following, which passed in both houses.

6. Prisoner Justice Network shines the light on the many struggles to put criminal justice and injustice on everyone's radar, nationally and globally. This visibility gives justice activists and advocates an opening to get out the truth about over-incarceration, racial targeting, and abusive prison conditions, and to organize for change and justice.

7. Ageing in Prison, a report by Karima Amin. Everyone loves grandma… and grandpa too. But when incarceration enters the mix, love and respect often disappear and attitudes change. This will be the topic at the next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, on Monday, July 29 at 6:30pm.

8. Corey's Column: Your mind-set is the biggest challenge in succeeding at reintegration.

9. Hip-Hop for Prisoner Justice features artists from around the world to promote justice for prisoners. In Troy NY at Freedom Square, Saturday August 3, 5pm - 8:30pm.

July 03, 2013

Current members of the New York State Board of Parole, updated to include those appointed on June 19 2013:Stanford, Tina, ChairwomanAlexander, EllenCoppola, MarcCrangle, JosephElovich, Lisa BethFerguson, JamesHallerdin, GailHernandez, ChristinaJohnson, MiltonLudlow, G. KevinSharkey, EdwardSmith, JulieSmith, Walter Wm., Jr.Thompson, Sally

June 29, 2013

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has determined that Nancy E. Smith, a Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, should be admonished for sending an unsolicited letter on behalf of an inmate who was applying for parole.

The Commission said Smith sent an unsolicited letter on her judicial stationery to a parole board indicating that the inmate was a 'friend' and 'good person' who deserved release. In fact, while Smith had corresponded with the inmate, she never met him and her only connection to the matter was that her brother-in-law's sister is a friend of the defendant's mother.

Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement: "This marks the first time the Commission has publicly disciplined an Appellate Division Justice, whose high rank should have made her especially sensitive to setting an example and obeying the ethics rules."

June 25, 2013

Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including details of the new Parole Board Commissioners appointed on June 19th, and updates from the NYS Parole Reform Campaign.

1. The legislative session is over. So unless the governor calls a special session before then, no more bills will be passed before January 2014. That includes the SAFE Parole Act. The bills introduced in June include some that passed both houses. Summer Strategies. Viewpoint from Inside questions the motivation for sex offender bills.

2. The highly successful Merle Cooper Program is slated for closure on September 1. Read this letter from Ronald Hughes, a participant in the program and if it inspires you to take action, consider signing this petition to stop the closure of the program that many people credit for being the key to their transformation.

3. The SAFE Parole Act ended the session with fourteen sponsors in the Assembly and four in the Senate. We have a lot of work to do, but it can be done if you join us. We have an easy letter writing initiative, and we'll help you plan a visit to your representatives' district offices this summer.

4. Parole News: May release statistics. Detailed biographies of the newly appointed Parole Board Commissioners including notes from their confirmation hearing. Another positive ruling in favor of the plaintiff in a parole board case was handed down in Manhattan Supreme Court: Kozlowski v. New York State Board of Parole, 104097/2012, New York State Supreme Court, NY County (Manhattan).

5. Corey Parks asks us to join him to 'Accomplish Peace, Not Violence' and learn to build up our communities after being conditioned to destroy them.

6. Eddie Ellis has been interviewed by the Sun Magazine.

7. Baba Eng finally is back in New York State. He was the guest speaker at the June 24th meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, which was also celebrating the organization's 8th anniversary.

June 19, 2013

At a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction on 19 June 2013, chaired by Senator Patrick M. Gallivan, the following nominations to the New York State Board of Parole were considered and approved:

May 24, 2013

Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole including updates about the NYS Parole Reform Campaign, ways to help and get involved.

1. Anthony Annucci has been appointed as the DOCCS Acting Commissioner. He has an extensive history with the agency. Facility Parole Officers are now known as Offender Rehabilitation Coordinators (ORCs). Hopefully this title change will allow them to focus more directly on preparing a person for successful reentry and rehabilitation.

2. Job Fair: it is not easy for anyone to find a job these days, and especially so if you have a criminal history. The National Action Network in the Bronx is offering a day of workshops to help you find work and "Power Your Way to Reentry". June 6.

4. Supporters of the NYS Parole Reform Campaign are continuing their efforts to pass the SAFE Parole Act. SPA, CSS, and MNJ are all actively petitioning the Legislature. The Campaign’s website has changed; campaign updates can now be found in Building Bridges, at the NYS Parole Reform Campaign column.

5. The Birthday Party, a tale from the NYS Prisoner Justice Network.

6. Parole News: February and April parole releases; new statistician found; opinions expressed by readers on Parole issues.

7. Realities of Reentry: though challenging, reentry offers an opportunity for a second chance. PRP2 guest speaker, Mr. Jerome Wright, "came home" to Buffalo in 2009. He has learned that dealing with the realities of reentry requires patience and a desire to learn new things, no matter how long or short the period of incarceration has been.

8. Corey Parks had a dream while he was in prison and now he's living it.

9. Keeping Jerry Balone's memory alive: two friends sent us their remembrances. "Jerry is a true example of what someone can become if they are given the chance." "The I-Can-Do-It Champ of resolve and redemption, his wings strengthened for flight beyond the naysayer's sting."

10. The $2 million windows at ten NYS prisons.

11. School not Court, a report and recommendations from the New York City School-Justice Partnership Task Force.

May 03, 2013

As he ended his 44 year career to begin his retirement, Commissioner Fischer reflected on how he started and came to join the agency, and thanked the employees for their hard work, support and especially for their friendship.

April 25, 2013

Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, ways to help and get involved.

1. Especially if you're a veteran who's done time in prison, or are the family member of an incarcerated veteran, you will welcome this opportunity to do some important healing - not only of your own pain, but of the system that then landed you in prison - in a luxurious setting, with all expenses except your transportation paid. All veterans and their families are invited!

2. Legislation considered in both houses of our legislature reveals the progress of our movement to make change in the legal system that controls our lives. Merit time bill is defeated.

3. Second Look Think Tank at Sullivan met with retiring DOCCS Commissioner Fischer and Vanda Seward, Director of Statewide Reentry Services, for a discussion of issues that affect all stakeholders in the reintegration process.

5. Preceding Michelle Alexander's presentation at Hamilton College, the NYS Prisoner Justice Network held a meet-up for its statewide membership to describe their roles in this growing movement for justice; your group, including organizations from inside prisons, is invited to be listed in their revised 2013/2014 Prisoner Justice Network Directory.

6. The NYS Parole Reform Campaign has revitalized their attempts to convince NYS legislators to do what so many New Yorkers understand is the morally correct thing to do, pass the SAFE Parole Act. It is time the Parole Board has legislation that allows them to fully commit their attention to evaluating the risks an applicant poses to his or her community.

7. Buffalo's Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. will meet on April 29 to discuss the stigma that exists throughout our communities and taints the decisions designed to provide "justice for all".

8. RAPP and DTR join in taking on the critical issue of people ageing and dying in prison.

9. Cory Parks points out the importance of self-reflection to our health and our vocational success.

10. Job opportunities in Albany NY.

11. Mothers of Bedford screening in Hudson NY follows women who are learning to provide their children with positive nurturing even from behind bars.

12. Keeping Jerry Balone's memory alive begins by sharing our stories of his impact on our lives. It will appear monthly in these pages as long as the stories keep coming.

13. Our actions are the seeds of our children's futures. A 12 year old child asks her advocate mother why there are so many black people in prison. Many who are decades older have yet to pose that important question.

April 23, 2013

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott ordered the state's parole board to swiftly grant Hank Morris a new parole hearing, finding the board "inexplicably" failed to fairly consider several factors in Morris's favor, including its own internal evaluation which indicates that Morris is no threat to society, and unjustly manipulated the process to keep him in prison for as long as possible. "Specifically, the record demonstrates that the board inexplicably failed to consider and weigh myriad relevant factors, all of which categorically supported petitioner's release on parole."

The new hearing took place yesterday, on April 22. Morris was granted parole and will be paroled by June 3.

Morris told parole commissioners that after his release he intends to work with not-for-profit agencies advocating parole reform. "I think there's a crying need for it," he said.

April 19, 2013

Hank Morris, the imprisoned former political advisor to ex-Comptroller Alan Hevesi, has brought a legal challenge against the state Parole Board, claiming officials do not follow proper procedure.

At the heart of his challenge is that the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the Board of Parole are violating New York law and its Constitution with impunity by conducting unlawful parole hearings that do not comply with statutory amendments that took effect on October 1, 2011.

These new laws mandate that written risk assessment procedures should be developed and utilized when making parole determinations, and that a transition accountability plan (TAP) should be developed for each inmate to be utilized when making parole determinations.

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott has ordered the state's parole board to swiftly grant Hank Morris a new parole hearing, finding the board "inexplicably" failed to fairly consider several factors in Morris's favor, including its own internal evaluation which indicates that Morris is no threat to society, and unjustly manipulated the process to keep him in prison for as long as possible. "Specifically, the record demonstrates that the board inexplicably failed to consider and weigh myriad relevant factors, all of which categorically supported petitioner's release on parole."

"Put simply, the amended statute required that respondent develop written procedures that implement risk and needs principles, determine the likelihood of an inmate's success upon release, and adopt those procedures as an exercise of its rule-making power," Mott stated. "Disregard of a legislative mandate through an administrative agency's inaction as here, is arbitrary and capricious."

The outcome of this case may affect as many as 15,000 inmates who have appeared before the board since the amendments to the legislation in 2011.

March 15, 2013

*** This edition of Building Bridges is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Balone, who died unexpectedly in his sleep on March 13. ***

Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details, ways to help and get involved.

1. An apology repository exists but who knows how to find it? Do you?

2. Legislation reports: the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, with Senator Patrick Gallivan as Chair, met on Wednesday March 13, to consider 11 bills. A video recording of their meeting is given here.

3. The call to end extreme isolation as a punishment is attracting more attention every day.

4. Parole news includes December 2012 statistics, 2012 summary pt.2, an update on the Thwaites case, and changes to the leadership of DOCCS and the Parole Board.

The Thwaites decision was avoided: the issue is moot. In 2011, Orange County Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Ecker ruled in the case of Douglas Thwaites that the revision of Executive Law 259 (c) not only required the parole board to put more weight on the rehabilitation of the inmate rather than the instant offense, but he also applied the revision retroactively. The Attorney General's Office urged the Appellate Division, Second Department, to overturn the ruling. Mr. Thwaites was released before the issue was decided and not for the first time, a challenge to parole's functioning was declared moot and thereby avoided. (From CURE-NY's Winter 2013 Newsletter.)

Changes in the leadership of DOCCS and the Parole Board:
DOCCS Commissioner Brian Fischer is retiring at the end of April.
Andrea Evans announced at a Public Safety Hearing that February 6 2013 was her last day as Chair of the Parole Board, but did not clarify whether she would be staying on as a Board Member. The Prison Action Network has heard that she will continue to serve in her role as Chair until replaced by the Governor.

March 07, 2013

Brian Fischer, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, has announced his retirement, effective April 30, 2013.

A Brooklyn native who has worked as a parole officer and was Superintendent of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Fischer has held cabinet posts since his 2007 appointment by Eliot Spitzer.

He was appointed Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services effective January 1, 2007, was confirmed as Commissioner by the state Senate on March 12, 2007, and with the passage of the 2011-12 State Budget, became Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

He supervised the merger of the Department of Correctional Services with the Division of Parole in 2011.

In his March 4, 2013 letter to all staff, Commissioner Fischer said, "Together we have accomplished much, and I know that good things will continue to develop."

March 06, 2013

David McCallum "has a plethora of loyal advocates certain of his innocence, a pro bono legal team that has been working on his behalf for a decade, a supportive family that never has stopped believing in him and a district attorney who is willing to listen and even agreed to post-conviction DNA testing."

He has maintained a spotless disciplinary record while in prison, a "stunningly good record," and the parole board's own risk assessment places him at the lowest risk of re-offending, being arrested or absconding.

Yet he has been turned down for parole three times, at least in part because he refuses to accept responsibility for a crime he insists he did not commit.

"There is good news! Much to our surprise, the SAFE Parole Act was introduced by Senator Kevin Parker (without even being asked!) and given its 2013 number, S1128. A few days later, Senator Kennedy signed on. In the Assembly, Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry sponsored it and it was given the number, A4108. Multi-sponsors Brennan, Crespo, Farrell, Gottfried, Scarborough, and co-sponsors Hevesi, Stevenson, and Clark also signed on.

Newly appointed to the leadership of the Assembly as the Speaker Pro Tempore, Jeffrion Aubry is no longer on the Corrections Committee, but is a member of the Assembly's Codes committee. He has been replaced as the Chair of the Assembly's Corrections Committee by Daniel O'Donnell, who signed on to the SAFE Parole Act last session, and hopefully will again this year.

Prison Action Network visited with Senator Parker and together we designed a strategy, which is basically to intensify what we have already been doing, sending our stories to Committees in both houses, and then to our own representatives, with copies sent to Senator Parker to show his colleagues how much support there is. He is not on the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, but he is on Finance and Rules where many bills have to pass before going before the Senate for a vote. Both houses need to pass the bill before it can become a law, and the Governor has to sign it."

2. Parole News: a summary of 2012 releases. At the NYS Budget hearings on Public Safety on February 6, 2013 it was announced that Parole Board Chair Andrea Evans' term had expired. It is not clear whether she will stay on until her replacement is named and/or if she will be remaining as a Commissioner.

3. Veterans Day weekend conference, When Johnny Comes Marching Home...and Gets Arrested - From Honor to Dishonor and Back, will focus on the special needs of incarcerated War Veterans.

4. A Prison Is Not a Nursing Home: The Incarceration of the Elderly in New York State, a report by the New York State Prisoner Justice Network. The NYS Prisoner Justice Network calls on readers to build a strong movement with a clear message: people in prison, like those on the outside, deserve respect and decent care in their old age, and elders who pose no danger to the community should be released.

5. An invitation to join a group of advocates on March 2 to discuss the release of ageing people from prison.

6. Job opportunities for people with criminal histories and a good education.

7. Corey Parks is now working for Harlem SNUG, and shares with readers what SNUG is and does.

8. The Reentry Roundtable on February 20 will focus on legislative proposals that address barriers to effective reentry. Anita Marton and Kate Rubin will be the guest speakers.

9. An evening of film and theater on February 27 will make a case for providing access to higher education for people in prison.

10. Prison Voices Project, airing on WGXC, 90.7 FM, has a new time slot and a website. The producer is reaching out to incarcerated artists for a website logo.

11. Albany's Center for Law and Justice is presenting a ten week film series, starting on February 21, to present the story of the African American presence and experience in the Americas.

12. SAVE the dates! On April 5 and 6, Columbia University students will be presenting their third annual Criminal Justice Conference. Don't miss an event that gets better every year!

6. Parole News - November and December releases include Peter Graziano; look for 2012 summary in February issue; comments from a parole applicant; claim that State parole violation rules have been eased.

One of the above December releases was Peter Graziano, a well known name throughout the NYS prison system as the lead plaintiff in Graziano et.al. Although the case was lost, many of the 'et.al' have been released, and now in January Mr. Graziano will also be going home. It was his seventh hearing. He thanks everyone who supported the lawsuit over the years.

Parole Revocation Barred for Defendant Unfit to Stand Trial
The above titled article by John Caher published in the New York Law Journal on January 2 2013 reports that the Appellate Division, First Department, has held in Matter of Lopez v. Evans, 2012 NY Slip Op 09188 that a parolee found mentally incompetent to stand trial on new charges is also unfit to proceed with a parole revocation hearing. Based on the same conduct that led to the charges, Lopez's parole was revoked by an administrative panel that found "mental illness is not an excuse for a parole violation".

Sadly John MacKenzie was found dead in prison on the morning of Thursday, 4 August 2016.

John took full responsibility for his crime yet in spite of his genuine and heartfelt remorse, his complete rehabilitation, his spotless disciplinary record and his impressive accomplishments and achievements, he was denied parole ten times for the one thing he could not change — the nature of his crime.

John's case is used as an outstanding example by advocates working to restore justice and fairness to parole.

Rest in peace dear John. You are greatly loved and missed.

..................

NYS Parole Statute

Procedures for the conduct of the work of the New York State Board of Parole:

NYS Parole Reform Campaign

Working to change unfair and unjust parole policies through the Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act. Regular updates are given in Building Bridges, the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network.

Special dedications

Parole News is dedicated to the memory of Charles "Chill" Hamilton and David "Pancake" Ramos, who died in prison. Charles "Chill" Hamilton was committed to parole reform. He had a sincere desire to help men change their lives, achieve an education and work towards becoming productive, law-abiding, contributing members of society. David "Pancake" Ramos kept everyone laughing. He was always happy, despite being in prison.